Ep. 354 Is There a Case for Libertarian Optimism?
The Tom Woods Show
Tom Woods
4.8 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2015
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Are we making progress, holding steady, or retrogressing? Frank Karsten returns to make the case for libertarian optimism!
About the Guest
Frank Karsten is chairman of Mises Instituut Nederland and of the Stichting Meer Vrijheid (More Freedom Foundation), a Dutch libertarian organization which acts to reduce taxes and government intervention.
Book Mentioned
Beyond Democracy: Why Democracy Does Not Lead to Solidarity, Prosperity and Liberty But to Social Conflict, Runaway Spending and a Tyrannical Government, by Frank Karsten and Karel Beckman
Project Mentioned
Ron Paul Homeschool Curriculum
Guest’s Website
Guest’s Twitter
Books Recommended by the Guest
The Ultimate Resource 2, by Julian Simon
It’s Getting Better All the Time: 100 Greatest Trends of the Last 100 Years, by Stephen Moore
The Skeptical Environmentalist, by Bjørn Lomborg
In Defense of Global Capitalism, by Johan Norberg
Related Episode
Ep. 156: Against the Catastrophists (Robert Bryce)
Special Offers
I’ve just released another free eBook: 14 Hard Questions for Libertarians — Answered. Click here to get your copy!
Like the new TomWoods.com? It was designed by my friends at Studio 1 Design. They’ve agreed to give my listeners 10% off any design project through this special link.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In a world of Democrats, there will be time for them to make profits. |
| 0:05.2 | Now's not that time. |
| 0:06.4 | And Republicans. |
| 0:07.9 | I've abandoned free market principles to save the free market system. |
| 0:12.2 | You need a voice of liberty. |
| 0:15.0 | Look no further. |
| 0:16.7 | You've found it. |
| 0:18.4 | Tom Woods. |
| 0:21.1 | Beware, citizen. |
| 0:22.9 | You are now departing from the world of allowable opinion. |
| 0:26.9 | The Tom Woods Show. |
| 0:33.5 | Welcome to the Tom Woods Show, episode 354. |
| 0:38.6 | Is there a case for libertarian optimism? |
| 0:41.8 | That's the subject of the show today, and this is a question I go back and forth on in my mind all the time. |
| 0:48.3 | Sometimes I'm optimistic, sometimes I'm pessimistic. |
| 0:51.4 | I'm unstable on this question. |
| 0:53.5 | I just fluctuate from one position to another, |
| 0:56.1 | so I thought, let's talk to our old friend Frank Carston, chairman of the Mises Institute in the |
| 1:00.9 | Netherlands. Also, he is the chairman of the Moore Freedom Foundation, which is another Dutch |
| 1:05.6 | think tank. You can check out more about Frank on the show notes page for today, which is tomwoods.com slash 354. |
| 1:14.0 | We talked to him about his book, the book he co-authored Beyond Democracy in a previous episode. |
| 1:20.0 | I'll link to that also on the show notes page, tomwoods.com slash 354. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tom Woods, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Tom Woods and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.

